Page 1 of Princess of Bael

Kay

Forty-One Years Later

War.Death. Violence. Blood.

Just another day in Hell.

Except this battle appeared to be unfolding on Earth, and the powers that be tended to frown upon that. As a half-human, half-demon hybrid, I understood. Mortals wouldn’t react well to our presence in their realm. They’d probably try to enslave us or run dangerous experiments on our blood.

Or worse—turn our existence into a crude political debate. They might even try to promote some of us to positions of power. And not over our own species, but over the human race.

I shuddered at the thought.

Some demons would be excellent politicians.

Not me. I lacked patience and finesse for such matters. Killing people with kindness and placative words didn’t appeal to me. I’d rather just kill them.

Like this Tracker demon following me around right now. He was a fucking nuisance that needed to find a new hobby.

I intended to provide him with such an outlet—just as soon as he appeared again—via a knife to the throat. He could choke on that for a while, then focus on regenerating.

I stirred my fruity cocktail with the pretty decorative umbrella while watching the doorway from my position at the bar.

“Liquid courage?” a deep voice asked from behind me, causing the hairs along my arms to stand on end as the intense energy that came with that voice slithered across my skin.

Shit. I almost knocked over my drink in my hurry to spin around and face the godlike male appearing out of thin air.

Prince Alastor snapped his long, pale fingers, freezing all the mortals in place beneath a wave of impressive telekinetic power.

“You know, when you originally left on this mission, I thought you would go straight to the Divinity,” he said conversationally as he took the stool beside me. “But you seem to be wasting quite a bit of time on Earth. Of course, the days might be a bit skewed, what with the time variants and all. Still, I’m surprised to find you...”

He paused to glance around, his dark eyes a hypnotic swirl of energy.

“Where the fuck are we?” he demanded, his perfect lips curling down as he took in the chalkboard and scribbled writing. “Did we fall back in time?”

I snorted and took another sip of my drink before setting it on the bar again. “We’re in Fargo, North Dakota,” I told him. “I was trying to trap a Tracker, but I’m guessing he ran off at the first scent of you.” Which meant I should probably thank him. But his presence here meant we were about to have additional company.

And that complicated things.

“Hmm,” he hummed, reaching over the bar to find a bottle of clear liquor. “Well, you’re welcome, I suppose. But I really do need you to focus. And I thought Evangeline lived in Nashville?”

“She’s all over the map,” I muttered. “I also don’t need her anymore.”

“Oh?” He popped the cap off the bottle and tipped the contents into his mouth.

The proof on the label made me gag.

He merely swallowed and arched one of those dark brows at me. “Are you going to keep me in suspense, or elaborate?”

I considered torturing him. It would only be fair after all the decades of torment he’d put me through with his little Pestilence demon pets.

Alas, I didn’t want to waste my energy on him.

I pulled out a phone and set it on the bar. “Prince Ashmedai gave me this.” It’d been his apology gift after keeping me occupied for several Earth weeks. Our findings had been crucial, the map we’d created one that more than proved the power divide was very real. But it had set me behind on my initial plans to find Ezra.

Then the pesky Tracker had made it worse.

Prince Alastor glanced at the device I’d set on the bar, his expression dubious. “And you’re going to what? Call the Archangel of Justice and ask him for a date?” He took in my knee-high boots, black skinny jeans, dark tank top, and leather jacket before settling on my features. “Given that you’re mated, I suppose that may work. Although, a naked picture would probably entice him more. Especially as he’s had to remain celi—”